National Equestrian C’ship of show jumping from today
New Delhi, Jan 28: The National Equestrian Championship of show jumping will begin on Saturday at the Amateur Riders Club (ARC) at Mahalakshmi race course in Mumbai, the national federation announced on Friday. Athletes aged 14 and above will be eligible for participation in the seven-day event, the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) said in a release. Athletes from Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata along with host city Mumbai, will compete in the annual event. The competition will be in five catagories – Novice, Grade III, Grade II, Grade I and Grand Prix. (PTI)
IBC to launch NFTs in partnership with TIAR
New Delhi, Jan 28: The Indian Boxing Council, which is a regulatory body for professional boxing in the country, has partnered with the The Indian Art Revolution (TIAR) to launch Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) which would include artwork, player profiles and key moments of the sport here. NFTs are units of data stored on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, which can be sold and traded in digital markets. “TIAR’s Boxing NFTs will include, key moments from the Indian Professional Boxing scene, Boxer cards, Boxer Avatars for the Metaverse, Boxing Artwork through artist collaborations and exclusive player profiles,” the Indian Boxing Council said in a statement. Commenting on the announcement, IBC president Brigadier (Retd) PK Muralidharan Raja said, “I believe, that our partnership with TIAR will be a huge step towards ensuring a steady income source for our boxers. Boxing promoters will now see a whole new channel of revenues that get added to their balance sheets.” (PTI)
Aditi cards 6-under for a flying start, lies third
Boca Rio (US), Jan 28: Indian golfer Aditi Ashok got off to a flying start at the Gainbridge LPGA with a superb 6-under 66 to be Tied-third and three short of leader Lydia Ko (63) here. Aditi, who missed the cut last time she played here at this course, was in sparkling form, finding the first 17 green in regulation. She faltered only once on the 18th and it ended in a bogey. Another Indian, the LPGA debutant Nishtha Madan, who is playing on an invite, had a struggle with 5-over 77 that began with a birdie but then had five bogeys and a double against one more birdie on 12th. (PTI)
Aston Villa sign defender Chambers from Arsenal
London, Jan 28: Aston Villa signed defender Calum Chambers from Arsenal on Thursday, making him the club’s fifth addition of the January transfer window. The 27-year-old Chambers, who can play in both central defence and at right-back, has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal at Villa Park for an undisclosed fee. Meanwhile, Manchester United sent Amad Diallo on loan to Scottish champion Rangers for the remainder of the season. United has also let another attacker, Anthony Martial, leave on loan in the January transfer window. Martial has joined Sevilla. (AP)
Vlahovic undergoes medical with Juventus for transfer
Turin, Jan 28: Coveted striker Dušan Vlahovic was undergoing a medical at Juventus on Friday to complete what is expected to be one of the biggest moves of the transfer window. Juventus tweeted a video of Vlahovic signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans before he went inside Juventus’ medical facility. Juventus will reportedly pay Fiorentina a transfer fee of 67 million euros ($75 million) for Vlahovic, plus another possible 8 million euros ($9 million) in bonuses. (AP)
Schalke fans unveil plaque to commemorate deported Jews
Berlin, Jan 28: Fans of German football club Schalke unveiled a memorial to commemorate the deportation of more than 500 Jews from the local area to a ghetto in Riga, Latvia, 80 years ago to the day. The group of around 20 fans — who have been working with the club, the city of Gelsenkirchen, local historians and the local Jewish community — want to bring attention to the atrocity, remember its victims and highlight the terror Germans wrought under National Socialism. (AP)
Reds sign Porto winger Diaz
London, Jan 28: Tottenham have suffered a second embarrassing blow with Liverpool hijacking their move for Porto’s Luis Diaz. Spurs have been in talks with Porto over the highly-rated Colombia winger but Liverpool are now close to completing a deal. Spurs were hopeful of signing Diaz as the club missed out to get Adama Traore, who is set to join Barcelona on loan from Wolves. Liverpool are said to be offering an initial £37m, with bonuses included in the deal that will only be triggered if Diaz becomes a big success at Anfield, Sky Sports reports. (IANS)